We already saw two sub-51-second swims, with Swiss national record holder Noe Ponti posting 50.47 and Olympic champion Kristof Milak of Hungary not terribly far behind in 50.81. A few slots down the line, however, is Romanian swimmer Denis Popescu, the 23-year-old who just crushed a new lifetime best and national record on his way to capturing the 7th seed. Popescu touched in a time of 51.44 to put his hat in the ring for a potential medal. His effort sliced .04 off his own previous benchmark of 51.48 notched at the 2025 U23 Championships to stand atop the podium at the competition. Men’s 100m Butterfly HeatsWorld Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, United States (2021)European Record: 49.62 – Maxime Grousset , France (2025), France (2025) Championship Record: 50.18 – Kristof Milak , Hungary (2021), Hungary (2021) 2025 World Champion: Maxime Grousset , France – 49.62, France – 49.62 2024 European Champion: Kristof Milak, Hungary – 50.82Top 16 Qualifiers: